30 April 2013

WISDOM FROM AN ECCENTRIC


In 1936, a writer, eccentric, and self-help guru named James T. Mangan published a book titled You Can Do Anything!, which included a section called "14 Ways To Acquire Knowledge".  Modern writer Maria Popova revisited Mangan's 14 guidelines.  Her summary should be read at least one a year by everyone involved in learning or teaching, whether formally or on one's own.

Here are the fundamentals ~

  1. Practice
  2. Ask
  3. Desire
  4. Get It From Yourself
  5. Walk Around It
  6. Experiment
  7. Teach
  8. Read
  9. Write
  10. Listen
  11. Observe
  12. Put In Order
  13. Define
  14. Reason
Simple and obvious, you may say.  But if you scan the explanation for each step in her brief article, you'll realize that most people tend to omit important elements in the learning process.  The reminder is timely ~ old dogs can learn new tricks, with the right mindset.

No comments:

Post a Comment